State of India's environment: the dichotomy and the five priority issues

Detail

1. Endowment vs pressure: the basic dichotomy

• Dichotomy here means India has two opposite sides at once. It is rich in natural resources, but those resources are under very heavy pressure.
• Rich endowment (endowment means the natural wealth a country is born with):
• Deccan black soil holds moisture and suits cotton. So cotton textile industries cluster in this region.
• The Indo-Gangetic plains are among the world's most fertile and most densely populated regions.

• Minerals: India has ~8% of the world's iron-ore reserves. It also has coal, natural gas, bauxite, copper, chromite, lignite, manganese, zinc and uranium.

• Pressure on the endowment:

• India has ~17-18% of the world's population (NCERT: 17%).
• It has ~20% of the world's livestock.

• All of this sits on only 2.4% of the world's land (NCERT rounds this to 2.5%).

• Worked example: the pressure ratio

• Pressure ratio = share of world population ÷ share of world land = 17 ÷ 2.4 ≈ 7.
• So each unit of India's land carries about 7 times the world-average human load. With NCERT's rounded 2.5%, the ratio is 17 ÷ 2.5 ≈ 6.8.
• Livestock alone: 20 ÷ 2.4 ≈ 8 times the world-average animal load per unit of land.

2. Two threats at the same time: poverty and affluence

• Poverty-induced degradation means harm to nature caused by poor people who must use it to survive:
• they have no other income or fuel → they overuse land, forests and fuelwood → soil, forests and grazing land get worse → the land yields less → people become poorer still.

• This is a vicious circle (a loop in which each problem makes the next one worse).

• Pollution from affluence means harm caused by rich consumers and fast growth:

• rising incomes → more vehicles, more factories and more power plants → more smoke, effluents (liquid waste) and garbage.

• Why this matters: most rich countries faced these two problems one after the other. India faces both together, so it must fight poverty and pollution with the same limited money.

• Link to the era: the Brundtland Report (1987) defined sustainable development as development that meets the needs of the present without harming the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The SDGs (2015-2030) turn this into global targets. India's five priority issues below are where this idea gets tested.

3. The five priority issues (NCERT)

1. land degradation
2. biodiversity loss
3. air pollution, especially vehicular pollution in cities
4. management of fresh water
5. solid waste management

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4. Land degradation

• Land degradation is a fall in the quality of land: lower fertility, soil loss, salty or waterlogged soil, or land turning into desert.

4.1 NCERT's 12 causes

1. Deforestation: clearing forests for farms, fuelwood, mining and industry. It also releases carbon stored in trees.
2. Taking more fuelwood and fodder than forests can regrow.
3. Shifting cultivation: clearing a forest patch, farming it for a few years, then moving on. When the fallow gap gets shorter, the soil cannot recover.
4. Encroachment (illegal occupation) of forest land.
5. Forest fires and overgrazing (too many animals grazing the same land).
6. No soil conservation measures.
7. Poor crop rotation (the same crop grown again and again drains the same nutrients).
8. Heavy use of agro-chemicals (chemical fertilisers and pesticides).
9. Poor planning and management of irrigation, which causes waterlogging and salty soil.
10. Pumping groundwater faster than rain refills it.

11. Open access resources: resources that anyone can use and nobody owns, such as village commons.

    • Each user gains fully from using more, but the damage is shared by everyone → everyone overuses → the resource is destroyed.
    • This is the tragedy of the commons. The economics is covered in market-structures-competition.

12. Poverty of people who depend on farming.

4.2 Key data

• Forest land per person: 0.06 ha available against 0.47 ha needed.
• Worked example: 0.06 ÷ 0.47 ≈ 13%. So each person has only about one-eighth of the forest they need. The gap of 0.41 ha per person is met by overuse.

• Result: ~15 million m³ of forest is felled beyond the permissible limit.

• Soil erosion (topsoil washed or blown away): ~5.3 billion tonnes a year. This removes 5.8-8.4 million tonnes of nutrients a year (GoI estimate).

• NCERT inconsistency: NCERT gives N 0.8 + P 1.8 + K 26.3 million tonnes, which adds up to 28.9 Mt, not 5.8-8.4 Mt. Use the GoI range in exams.

• ISRO Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas (published by the Space Applications Centre, ISRO, Ahmedabad; released 2021, data for 2018-19):

• 97.85 million ha, or 29.77% of India's geographical area, is affected by land degradation and desertification [7][8] (scaffold rounds this to 29.7%).

• Restoration pledge: announced by PM Modi at UNCCD COP14, New Delhi (2019). India will restore 26 million ha of degraded land by 2030 [9].

• This target is linked to Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN), meaning new degradation is balanced by restoration so that net degradation is zero [8].
• Progress: 21.76 million ha is under restoration against the 26 million ha target (Bonn Challenge) [10].

• Worked example: 21.76 ÷ 26 ≈ 84% of the target covered.

• Forest cover, India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2023 (the 18th report in the series, by the Forest Survey of India):

• Forest and tree cover: 8,27,357 sq km = 25.17% of geographical area [4].
• This splits into forest cover of 7,15,343 sq km (21.76%) and tree cover of 1,12,014 sq km (3.41%) [4].
• Forest and tree cover rose by 1,445 sq km over ISFR 2021: 156 sq km of forest cover plus 1,289 sq km of tree cover [4].
• Note that most of the gain is tree cover (trees outside recorded forests), not natural forest.

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5. Biodiversity loss

• Biodiversity is the variety of life: genes, species and ecosystems. Biodiversity loss is the decline in that variety.
• India is megadiverse (one of the few countries holding a very large share of the world's species):
• It has ~7-8% of the world's recorded species.

• It has 4 of the world's 36 biodiversity hotspots. A hotspot is a region very rich in species found nowhere else, which is also under serious threat.

  1. Himalaya
  2. Indo-Burma
  3. Western Ghats-Sri Lanka
  4. Sundaland (India's part is the Nicobar Islands)

• Laws and targets:

• Biological Diversity Act 2002, amended in 2023.
• Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (2022): protect 30% of land and 30% of sea by 2030 ("30x30").

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6. Air pollution

• Air pollution is the contamination of air by gases and tiny particles from vehicles, industry, thermal power plants and burning of biomass (crop waste, wood).
• PM10 and PM2.5 are particulate matter with a diameter below 10 and 2.5 micrometres. The smaller the particle, the deeper it goes into the lungs.

6.1 Vehicular pollution

• Why vehicles hit people hardest:

• vehicles release smoke at ground level, where people breathe → the smoke does not get the chance to spread out as factory smoke from tall chimneys does → city residents take in a larger dose.

• Growth in vehicles: from ~3 lakh (1951) to 35 crore (2022).

• Worked example: 35 crore ÷ 3 lakh = 3,500 lakh ÷ 3 lakh ≈ 1,167 times in about 70 years.
• Two-wheelers and cars were ~85% of registered vehicles.

6.2 Industrial and other sources

• Industrial pollution is harmful smoke (emissions) and liquid waste (effluents) released by factories.
• India is among the ten most industrialised nations.
• CPCB lists 17 categories of highly polluting industries.

• NCERT calls the Damodar valley an "ecological disaster" because of its heavy concentration of coal, steel and power industry.

• Other sources:

• thermal power plants, which burn coal
• stubble burning, where farmers burn leftover crop stalks after harvest, especially in Punjab and Haryana before winter

6.3 Policy response (timeline)

Year	Measure	What it does
2014	National Air Quality Index (AQI)	Turns pollutant levels into one number and colour band that the public can read
2017	GRAP (Graded Response Action Plan)	Delhi-NCR emergency steps that tighten as AQI worsens (e.g. halting construction)
2019 (Jan)	NCAP (National Clean Air Programme)	First national time-bound clean-air programme
2021	CAQM Act	Created the Commission for Air Quality Management for NCR and adjoining areas

6.4 NCAP in detail

• Launched by MoEFCC in January 2019. It covers 130 cities (non-attainment cities and million-plus cities) in 24 States/UTs. Each city has a city-level clean air action plan [2] (scaffold/earlier releases: 131 cities).
• Non-attainment city: a city that failed to meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for five years in a row.
• Target: reduce PM10 concentration by up to 40%, or reach NAAQS, by 2025-26, against the 2017-18 base [2].
• Results for 2025-26 vs 2017-18 [3]:
• 108 cities recorded lower annual PM10.
• 72 cities cut PM10 by more than 20%.
• 26 cities cut PM10 by more than 40%.

• 14 cities met NAAQS for PM10 (annual standard ≤ 60 µg/m³), up from 6 cities in 2017-18.

• Worked example: the percentage-cut formula

• % reduction = (PM10 in 2017-18 − PM10 in 2025-26) ÷ PM10 in 2017-18 × 100.
• A city at 150 µg/m³ that falls to 90 µg/m³ has cut PM10 by (150 − 90) ÷ 150 × 100 = 40%.

• It has met the 40% target, but 90 is still above the NAAQS limit of 60. This is why the target reads "up to 40% or NAAQS": a very polluted city can hit the percentage and still have unsafe air.

• Health and GDP cost: Lancet Planetary Health (estimates for 2019) put the toll at ~1.67 million deaths and ~1.4% of GDP lost. This figure was not checked against an official source for this note.

6.5 Box 7.4: Pollution Control Boards

• CPCB (Central Pollution Control Board) was set up in 1974 under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act. It got air-pollution powers under the Air Act 1981.
• States set up SPCBs (State Pollution Control Boards).
• What the boards do:
• set standards for sewage, trade effluents and emissions
• give technical help to governments and sponsor research
• run mass-awareness campaigns
• prepare manuals and codes
• inspect every industry through district-level officials
• provide background air-quality data, used to decide where to locate industries and to plan towns

• monitor water quality in 125 rivers (including tributaries), plus wells, lakes, creeks, ponds, tanks, drains and canals

• Trap: CPCB began as a water body (1974). Air came later (1981).

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7. Fresh water

7.1 Water pollution

• Water pollution is the contamination of rivers, lakes and groundwater by sewage, industrial effluents and farm chemicals.
• Class 8 example: leather tanneries in Tamil Nadu discharge chemicals that pollute rivers and farm soil.

7.2 Groundwater overuse

• Groundwater overuse means pumping water out of the ground faster than rain can refill (recharge) it.
• Class 10 (Development) data:
• ~300 districts saw water levels fall by more than 4 m in 20 years.
• One-third of the country overuses groundwater now. This could rise to 60% within 25 years.

• Hotspots: Punjab, western UP, the hard-rock plateaus of central and south India, some coastal areas, and fast-growing cities.

• Dynamic Ground Water Resource Assessment 2024 (by CGWB and the States; released 31 December 2024) [5]:

• Annual groundwater recharge: 446.90 BCM (billion cubic metres).
• Annual extractable resource: 406.19 BCM.
• Annual extraction for all uses: 245.64 BCM.
• Stage of extraction: 60.47% for India as a whole.
• Of 6,746 assessment units (blocks, mandals, talukas), 4,951 (73.4%) are "Safe", up from 62.6% in 2017.
• Since the 2017 assessment, recharge has risen by ~15 BCM and extraction has fallen by ~3 BCM.

• A newer 2025 assessment has also been released [6].

• Worked example: stage of groundwater extraction

• Formula: Stage of extraction (%) = annual groundwater extraction ÷ annual extractable groundwater resource × 100.
• 245.64 ÷ 406.19 × 100 = 60.47%.
• A block above 100% is "over-exploited", because it is pumping out more than nature puts back each year.

• A national average of ~60% looks safe, but it hides over-exploited pockets such as Punjab.

• Atal Bhujal Yojana (2020): funds community-led groundwater management in water-stressed areas.

7.3 Virtual water

• Virtual water is the water used up in making a product.
• Example: when India exports rice and sugarcane products, which are water-hungry crops, it also sends abroad the water used to grow them. A water-scarce country is then, in effect, exporting its scarce water.

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8. Solid waste

• Solid waste management (SWM) covers the collection, separation, treatment and disposal of solid waste.
• SWM Rules 2016 apply.

• Identified single-use plastic items have been banned from 1 July 2022.

• Fly ash is the fine ash left after burning coal in thermal power plants.

• If it is dumped, it pollutes water and land.

• If it is used in bricks, cement and road-making, it becomes a resource.

• EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) and e-waste are covered in Section 9.

• NCERT exercise: a truck driver was fined ₹10,000 for emitting black soot.
• This previews the polluter pays principle: whoever causes the pollution pays for its damage.
• This makes the cost of pollution fall on the polluter, not on the public.

Prelims Hooks

• India has ~17% of world population and ~20% of world livestock on only 2.4% of world land (NCERT: 2.5%).
• CPCB, 1974 was set up under the Water Act. Its air powers came from the Air Act 1981. It monitors water quality in 125 rivers.
• NCAP (January 2019) covers 130 cities. Its target is a PM10 cut of up to 40%, or meeting NAAQS, by 2025-26, against the 2017-18 base. The pollutant targeted is PM10, not PM2.5 [2].
• ISFR 2023: forest and tree cover is 25.17%, made up of 21.76% forest cover and 3.41% tree cover [4].
• DGWRA 2024: stage of groundwater extraction is 60.47%. The formula is extraction ÷ extractable resource × 100 [5].
• ISRO Desertification Atlas: 97.85 mha (29.77%) of land is degraded. India's pledge is to restore 26 mha by 2030 (announced at UNCCD COP14, New Delhi, 2019) [7][9].
• Trap: "21.76" appears twice. It is 21.76% forest cover (ISFR 2023) and also 21.76 mha of land under restoration [4][10].
• India's 4 hotspots are Himalaya, Indo-Burma, Western Ghats-Sri Lanka and Sundaland (Nicobar). The Eastern Ghats is NOT a hotspot.
• Kunming-Montreal GBF (2022) sets the 30x30 target: 30% of land and sea protected by 2030.
• Open access resource → tragedy of the commons. This is NCERT cause no. 11 of land degradation.

Mains Points

• The twin-threat trade-off:
• Poverty-induced degradation needs livelihood support: fuel, fodder and jobs, for example LPG to cut fuelwood use and MGNREGA work on land and water.
• Pollution from affluence needs regulation and pricing: emission standards and the polluter pays principle.

• One policy tool cannot fix both. Clean growth must also be pro-poor.

• Regulation vs results in air quality:

• NCAP has shown gains: 108 of 130 cities cut PM10 by 2025-26, but only 14 met NAAQS [3].

• The limits:

  • it targets PM10 and not the more harmful PM2.5
  • pollution crosses city boundaries (NCR, stubble burning), which is why an airshed body like CAQM was needed
  • SPCBs lack enough staff and enforcement power

• Groundwater governance:

• The national stage of extraction (60.47%) looks comfortable but hides over-exploited blocks [5].
• Free or flat-rate farm power, MSP-led rice and sugarcane in water-scarce Punjab, and virtual-water exports all push overuse.

• The fix combines crop diversification, metering and pricing of power, and community management (Atal Bhujal).

• Land and SDGs:

• Nearly 30% of land is degraded [7], while forest and tree cover gains are mostly outside natural forests [4].
• Meeting the 26 mha LDN target [9][10] ties directly to SDG 15 (Life on Land) and to farm incomes, because soil erosion strips nutrients and lowers yields.